LAHORE: Defending champions Lahore Qalandars defeated leaders Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets in match 38 of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.
Aided by half-centuries from Michael Bracewell and captain Babar Azam, the 2017 champions posted an impressive total of 199/4 in the group.
Bracewell scored 83 runs off 45 balls with 8 fours and a six, while Babur scored 59 runs off 45 balls with 5 fours and a six.
Apart from them, all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed contributed significantly to Zalmi’s total with an unbeaten 27 off 14 balls.
Haris Raub and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi took 2 wickets each for Kulanders side.
Chasing a tough target of 200 runs, Holders hit the winning runs with 4 wickets and 3 balls to spare.
Leading them was experienced opener Faqar Zaman who scored an unbeaten 58 off 37 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes.
His anchoring performance was supported by Abdullah Shafiq (25), Sarit Asalanga (33), Sikandar Raza (29) and Daniel Sams (35 not out).
For Zalmi side, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ali Raza, Subian Mukeem and Khurram Shahjad took one wicket each.
The six-wicket win kept Lahore Qalandars’ playoff hopes alive as it took their points tally to 10 from 10 matches and helped them overtake arch-rivals Karachi Kings.
Instead, it marked leaders Peshawar Zalmi’s first defeat and they remain at the top of the PSL 11 standings with 17 points after 10 league-level matches.
| Teams | Competitions | succeeds | Losses | No results | points | Net flow rate |
| Peshawar Zalmi (K) | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 2.324 |
| Sultans of Multan (K) | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0.450 |
| Islamabad United (K) | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1.766 |
| Lahore Colleagues | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | -0.482 |
| Karachi Kings (E) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | -0.869 |
| Hyderabad Kingsmen | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 | -1.037 |
| Quetta Gladiators (E) | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | -0.410 |
| Rawalpindis (E) | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | -1.330 |
At the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Sunday, the 2017 champions will already be on top, while playoff-bound Multan Sultans and Islamabad United will be second and third respectively.
Debutants Hyderabad Kingsmen are currently sixth in the points table with eight points from nine matches, while the previous edition’s runners-up Quetta Gladiators are seventh with six points after playing all 10 of their league-level matches.
Rawalpindis, another debutant, lingered at the bottom with two points after nine matches.
Notably, the Qalandars’ win over Zalmi brought the curtains down on the campaign of arch-rivals Kings, who had earlier knocked the Gladiators out of the playoff race.
However, the six-wicket win did not push the holders into the playoffs as they now look to lose their remaining league-level game against Hyderabad Kingsmen Rawalpindis.
Meanwhile, for the Kingsmen to progress, they need to beat the Bindis by a substantial margin to take their points tally to 10, and surpass the Kalenders in terms of net run rate.
While the exact margin of victory the Kingsmen need to win will be determined after the first innings of the match against Rawalpindis, they need to win by roughly 85 runs or chase down the target in just 10 overs.